History of Education

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Oversea Education and British colonial education

1929-63

Clive Whitehead

To cite this article: Clive Whitehead (2003) Oversea Education and British colonial education
1929-63, History of Education, 32:5, 561-575, DOI: 10.1080/0046760032000118345

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 HISTORY OF EDUCATION, SEPTEMBER 2003, VOL. 32, NO. 5, 561575

Oversea Education and British colonial education

192963

CLIVE WHITEHEAD
The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western
Australia 6009. e-mail: clive.whitehead@uwa.edu.au
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In 1929 William Ormsby Gore, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the
Colonies, remarked that nothing had struck him more in his many colonial tours than the
lack of touch between Colonies.1 He claimed that existing machinery for the interchange
of experience and ideas between colonies was inadequate, especially in education. This
was the primary reason for the establishment of the journal Oversea Education in
1929.
The journals origins lay in the creation in 1923, and subsequent success, of the
Colonial Office Advisory Committee on Education in British Tropical Africa. It was soon
apparent that the African colonies faced similar educational problems and this prompted
several directors of education in Africa to suggest that it might be useful to establish a
journal to share knowledge between colonies. The idea received enthusiastic support at the
Colonial Conference of 1927, together with the idea of enlarging the scope of the advisory
committee to encompass all the colonies. The Colonial Office acted on both
recommendations2 and the new and expanded Advisory Committee on Education in the
Colonies (ACEC) began its deliberations in January 1929. The first issue of Oversea
Education was published nine months later. The journal was destined to survive for three
eventful decades before it ceased publication in January 1963. Born in the palmy days of
colonialism in the 1930s, it survived long enough to witness the era of postwar
decolonization. In its heyday it had few competitors, the only other journals to carry
articles on education in British colonies being the International Review of Missions and
Africa: the Journal of the Royal African Society. Oversea Education merits scholarly
attention because it was the only journal of its kind and its contents now provide a rich
source of material for educational historians seeking a deeper understanding of British
colonial education policy in the halcyon days of empire in the 1930s and in the very
different world that emerged after 1945.
The journal was a semi-official publication designed primarily to keep leading
colonial education officials in touch with developments elsewhere. As the Marquess of
Dufferin and Ava remarked in the tenth anniversary issue, the title Oversea Education
gave little indication of the main purpose of the journal but the exchange of knowledge
in educational spheres between colonies had been steadfastly maintained over the past
decade.3 In short, Oversea Education served to keep colonial officials at the periphery in

1 W. Ormsby Gore, Research and experiment in Oversea Education, Oversea Education [OE], 1/1 (October
1929), 2.
2 Colonial Office Circular, 4 December 1928.
3 The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, After ten years, OE, XI/1 (October 1939), 1.

History of Education ISSN 0046760X print/ISSN 14645130 online 2003 Taylor & Francis Ltd
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/0046760032000118345
 562 C. Whitehead

touch with those at the centre in Whitehall. By no stretch of the imagination, however,
could it be argued that the contents of the journal were seriously directed at indigenous
teaching staff. British colonial rule, especially during the interwar years, was characterized
by a deep-seated sense of benevolent paternalism and this was clearly evident amongst
most education officials in Africa, the West Indies, South-East Asia and the Pacific. In
retrospect, it seems highly unlikely that copies of Oversea Education ever circulated far
beyond the desks of senior education officers and school principals. From the outset the
journal was deliberately geared towards providing practical advice for expatriate teachers
and administrators rather than the dissemination of new or revamped educational theory.
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In the 1930s many colonial departments of education were still in their infancy and most
colonial officials had acquired little or no experience in developing and administering
education; hence the need for practical advice and encouragement was uppermost.
The format of the journal, published as a quarterly, changed little over its lifetime.
Each issue comprised 48 pages, although this was cut back to 44 during the war years, and
usually carried a minimum of four or five articles, a comprehensive Notes section which
often ran to 10 or more pages, especially in the 1930s; numerous book reviews, a
condensed summary of the activities of the Advisory Committee in London, although this
was discontinued after January 1947, and a variety of advertisements focused on school
texts and classroom equipment. In 1946 traditional editorial anonymity was discarded and
regular editorials were added. Black-and-white illustrations also became a regular feature
from October 1938 although they had to depict educational activities and experiments
rather than individuals. This ruling came about as a result of Sir Frank Sibleys remarks
at a meeting of the Advisory Committee.4 Consequently one looks in vain for photos of
prominent colonial education officials. The cover design, incorporating a table of contents,
remained unchanged throughout the life of the journal although the precise format
underwent two changes in the 1950s. There was also a special one-off cover to mark the
tenth anniversary issue. This was decided upon as a result of a competition won by Miss
Swinitha Seneratna from Ceylon.5 Initially, Oversea Education was published by Oxford
University Press but HMSO assumed responsibility in October 1943. The price of each
issue remained constant at 1s throughout the 1930s but the rising cost of paper after the
Second World War generated price risesto 1s 3d in July 1950, 1s 6d in October 1951,
and finally to 2s in January 1956.
The journal only had two editors over its lifetimeArthur Mayhew (192946) and
Frank Ward (194663)and this analysis of the journal is structured around their
respective periods in charge. Both men had distinguished academic backgrounds and
equally successful careers in education before becoming editor of the journal.
Mayhew6 was educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford, where he graduated
with first class honours in classics. Thereafter, he joined the Indian Education Service in
Madras and eventually became Director of Public Instruction in the Central Provinces.
Prior to his appointment as a joint secretary of the ACEC and editor of Oversea Education,
he was a classics master at Eton College. Ward7 was educated at Dulwich College and

4 Minutes of the Advisory Committee on Education in the Colonies (ACEC), January 1938. Sibley, then Vice-
Chancellor of Reading University, argued that photos should depict people engaged in practical activities and
the Committee agreed.
5 OE, XI/1 (October 1939), 35.
6 See the authors article The Nester of British Colonial education: a portrait of Arthur Mayhew CIE, CMG
(18781948), Journal of Educational Administration and History, 29/1 (1997), 5176.
7 See the authors article The Admirable Ward; a portrait of W.E.F. (Frank) Ward CMG, colonial educator,
administrator, diplomat and scholar, Journal of Educational Administration and History, 25/2 (1993),
13860.
 Oversea Education and British colonial education 563

Lincoln College, Oxford, where he narrowly missed out on first class honours in history.
Initially he planned to go to India as a missionary but The Revd Alex Fraser persuaded
him to accompany him to West Africa as a foundation staff member of Achimota College.
In 1941 he was appointed as the first Director of Education in Mauritius. He returned to
London in 1946 to be Assistant Educational Adviser to the Secretary of State for the
Colonies and editor of Oversea Education. Mayhew and Ward both continued to edit the
journal for several years after they had officially retired from their positions in
Whitehall.
Unfortunately the day-to-day editorial files have not survived but it is clear from the
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Minutes of the Advisory Committee evidence that the journal was always financially
subsidized by one means or another and that circulation figures were a constant editorial
concern. When the journal began it had a circulation in excess of 1500 but by 1936 this
had fallen to 1100 and Mayhew feared it might drop even further. The attitudes of colonial
directors of education towards the journal varied. In 1936 Mayhew reported that Uganda
had recently reduced its number of subscriptions from 25 to two while The Gambia took
only one copy but elsewhere he reported growing local interest and Americans were also
keen to purchase it.
The following is a summary of circulation figures and finances for Oversea Education
as supplied by Mayhew to the Advisory Committee in 1936:8

No. of government subscriptions 1094

Others 191
Occasional sales 50
Free list, official and exchange 125
Total no. of copies of last issue 1550
Reduced from 1750
Balance in hand as at 30 Sept. 1934 180 16s 4d
1935 201 16s
Revenue from advertisements 1933/34 95 5s 2d
1934/35 105 3s 5d
No expenditure on editorial or clerical staff or contributors.
Expenditure on printing, postage and packing 1934/35 321 18s 6d
Advertising costs 7

At the time Mayhew was keen to pay contributors and to provide illustrations and
monthly rather than quarterly issues. The Advisory Committee recommended against the
payment of contributors as it could lead to difficulties, the precise nature of which was
left unstated in the minutes.
Further glimpses at the journals circulation and finances were provided by Ward when
he was editor. In February 1949 he told the Advisory Committee that the journal was being
subsidized to the tune of 7d per copy on a print run of 2000. At the time he estimated that
the dependencies took about 1300 copies and a further 400 went to individuals and
institutions. The printers, HMSO, were becoming concerned at the rising costs of
production and Ward indicated that there was a distinct possibility that the Treasury might
decide to cease publication. He pointed out how the journal was in a unique position when
it started in 1929 with few, if any, competitors but by the late 1940s several other

8 Minutes of the ACEC, May 1936.

 564 C. Whitehead

competing journals had come into existence, such as The Colonial Review, Corona, the
Journal of African Administration, the Mass Education Bulletin, and a variety of Unesco
publications like Fundamental Education. Getting contributors was also a growing
problem, especially as they were not paid. After talks with HMSO it had been suggested
that future issues of the journal should include four pages of advertisements and a possible
price rise. It had also been agreed to print 4000 publicity leaflets as part of a strategy to
increase subscriptions. Ward then asked those present for their views on whether they
thought it was worthwhile maintaining the journal. In the ensuing discussion it was agreed
that the journal still served an important purpose and should be kept alive as it was the
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only arena in the United Kingdom and the colonies for professional discussion of colonial
education matters. The Committee also described the existing state subsidy as niggardly
and agreed that the Treasury should be asked for more assistance. A moderate price rise
and greater efforts to increase the UK circulation were also supported. Finally, it was
agreed to invite the Colonial Office to examine the position of the journal in more
detail.9
Four years later Ward again brought the finances of the journal to the attention of the
Advisory Committee.10 Despite two recent price rises it was clear that the journal was still
losing money. Since the war there had been two advertising campaigns including the
distribution of publicity leaflets to directors of education in the colonies and the
circulation of 600 specimen copies of the journal to selected addresses in the UK, the
colonies and the USA but there had been no increase in sales. Ward supplied the following
sales figures:
Sales for the 1st and 3rd quarters since 1950

1950 1951 1952 1953

January 2696 2274 2063 1776

July 2436 2122 2041

He concluded that OE [was] the sort of magazine which people [were] glad to read
but not prepared to buy.11 He also stated that HMSO was yet again reviewing the
journals immediate future amidst growing concern about its finances. The Advisory
Committee discussed the matter at its July meeting and unanimously agreed that it still
served a very useful purpose and should be maintained. It was also suggested that the
journal might be subsidized with a grant from Colonial Development and Welfare
(CD&W) funds.
Two years later, in October 1955, Ward was in gleeful mood when he announced
receipt of a CD&W grant, extending over three years, to help get the journal back on its
feet. For the first time, he wrote, we have money to spend on the paper and it is a
wonderful feeling.12 His first priority was to pay contributors as from January 1956 at the
rate of three guineas (3 3s) per thousand words whether for articles, news items or

9 Ibid., 17 February 1949.

10 ACEC paper, Financial position of Oversea Education, (53) 17. See also ACEC Minutes, 9 July 1953.
11 Financial Position of Oversea Education.
12 Weve had a windfall, OE, XXVII/3 (October 1955), 889.
 Oversea Education and British colonial education 565

reviews. Overall, the grant was designed to make the journal self-sustaining by attracting
more subscribers and advertisers. In July 1956 Ward informed his readers that Oversea
Education was being read in no less than 65 different countries.13 However, by September
1956 storm clouds were again threatening the finances of Oversea Education.
Ward informed the Advisory Committee that the CD&W grant was due to expire in
April 1958. After receiving the grant in October 1955, a major campaign was launched to
increase circulation. HMSO printed 12,500 advertising brochures, which were distributed
widely inviting requests for specimen copies. Advertisements were also placed in The
Times Educational Supplement and The Universities Review but the overall responsea
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total of 98 new subscriberswas disappointing. Each issue had a nominal print run of
1700. The paid circulation amounted to 1044 plus a free list of 179. Advertising had
increased to 18 pages per issuean increase of 100% in two yearsbut at the expiry of
the CD&W grant it would not be possible to continue paying contributors unless more
funds were forthcoming. In conclusion he also expressed his thanks to the members of an
editorial board that had been established in January 1956 to assist him after he retired as
Deputy Educational Adviser to the Colonial Office.14 On a brighter note, in January 1959,
Ward announced his one major publishing success. An article, American degrees and
British students, written by Bernard Mellor, had generated orders for over 4000 reprints
before it was even published.15 The article was topical because many students from British
colonies were studying in the United States by the late 1950s and then claiming parity with
graduates of British universities upon returning home and seeking government
employment.
The contents of the journal, including no less than 629 published articles, regular
editorials (from 1946 onwards), endless pages of notes and news items, and a veritable
profusion of book reviews are best described in relation to the periods of editorship under
Mayhew and Ward respectively.

The Mayhew Era 192946

Mayhew edited the journal from October 1929 to January 1946a total of 64 issues, and
published 256 articles. Of these, 118 or approximately 46% were directly related to Africa.
The articles can be subdivided into various categories as illustrated below in table 1.
Indigenous culture covered articles on African art, music, drama, aesthetics, the
African gift for mathematics, and a comparison of varying cultural achievements.
Community development and mass education covered a multitude of topics in line with
Britains colonial policy in the 1930s, which was aimed at stopping the drift of population
to urban centres and the resultant disintegration of tribal life. British policy focused on the
need to generate prosperous rural peasant communities in which traditional culture would
be preserved.16 Hence there were various articles on the work of Jeanes teachers and
schools in East Africa; rural training centres in Ceylon, Nigeria and Ethiopia; community
schools in the West Indies; young farmers clubs in Tanganyika; rural reconstruction and

13 Oversea Education, XXVIII/2 (July 1956), 59.

14 The advisory board consisted of H.M. Collins, a member of the CO Advisory Committee on Colonial
Colleges of Arts, Science and Technology; L.B. Greaves from the Combined British Missionary Societies;
John Hampden from the British Council; Miss H.K. Hawkins (replaced in October 1959 by Prof. H.C. Dent)
from the ACEC; I.C.M. Maxwell from the Inter Universities Council for Higher Education Overseas; S.
Milburn from the London Institute of Education; and Gilbert Smith, editor of The Schoolmaster.
15 OE, XXX/4 (January 1959), 145.
16 Memorandum on the Education of African Communities (London: HMSO, 1935) [Colonial No. 103].
 566 C. Whitehead

Table 1. A summary of articles published in Oversea Education during Mayhews

editorship.

Category No of articles Articles related to Africa

Indigenous culture 16 13
Community development & mass education 46 23
Language of instruction 27 6
Female education 20 14
School curriculum 47 27
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Adaptation of the curriculum 7 5

Examinations 3
Higher education 3 3
Miscellaneous 66 27
Specific countries excluding Africa 21
Totals 256 118 (46%)

village life in China and India; adult literacy in Kenya; a childrens village in Palestine;
the link between agriculture and Danish high schools; Malayan efforts to foster rural
industries; and rural reconstruction in the UK and its relevance to Africa.
Articles on the language of instruction centred mainly on the teaching and use of
English both in Africa and elsewhere, including Japan, India, Palestine, Singapore and the
West Indies. The place of the vernacular in African education was also a matter of
practical concern. Similarly, the journal published a variety of articles on aspects of female
education in various countries including Zanzibar, the Sudan, Southern Rhodesia, Sierra
Leone, India, Malaya and British Guiana. The teaching of domestic science, the training
of female teachers, nursing education and the formation of branches of the Womens Rural
Institute in East Africa were further topics covered.
The nature and content of the school curriculum also attracted wide interest. There
were numerous articles on the place of agriculture in schools. Professor Julian Huxley also
wrote a provocative article advocating a biological approach to the development of a
specifically African school curriculum.17 This was part of an argument for adapting the
school curriculum to bring it into closer harmony with the agrarian lifestyle in Africa and
elsewhere.18 The academic, literary curriculum, which many Africans sought, was
considered inappropriate because it led to white-collar vocational aspirations, urban
population drift and the potential for political unrest. Many articles dealt with the usual
school subjects but in different cultural contexts, for example, Shakespeare in the East
(Singapore), African drama, science teaching in Nigeria, drama in the Gold Coast,
teaching history in African schools, art in African schools, music in Malayan schools, and
mathematics in African secondary schools. Other topics included English reading
materials for Africans, vocational education, trade training in various colonies, teaching
poetry in Africa, nature study and the general science curriculum, and literature in African
languages.

17 Julian Huxley, A biological approach to education in East Africa, OE, II/I (October 1930), 113.
18 For details of the adaptation theory see Education Policy in British Tropical Africa, Cmd. 2374 (London,
1925); Education in Africa (New York: Phelps-Stokes Fund, 1922); Education in East Africa (New York and
London: Phelps-Stokes Fund, 1924); A. Victor Murray, The School in the Bush: A Critical Study of the
Theory and Practice of Native Education in Africa (London: Longmans Green, 1929); and Udo Bude, The
adaptation concept in British colonial education, Comparative Education, 19/3 (1983), 34155.
 Oversea Education and British colonial education 567

The theory of adaptation was dealt with in several articles. Lucy Mair wrote about the
anthropological approach to education, while Victor Murray wrote about native education
in South Africa. Other articles dealt with rural education in India and Palestine, and native
education in New Guinea and Uganda. Several articles also dealt with external
examinations, including one, written by the Assistant Secretary of the Cambridge Local
Examinations Syndicate, on the reliability of School Certificate results, and two others on
examinations and their place in a national system of education, both contributed by no less
a figure than Sir Philip Hartog, a former Academic Registrar at the University of London
and the first Vice-Chancellor of Dacca University. Higher education was covered by
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reports on various commissions to East Africa (1937)19 and West Africa (1944),20 and the
Asquith Commission (1943).21 Mayhew also wrote a detailed article, extending over two
issues, on Lovedale College, a native institution for higher education in South Africa.
Female education was another topic to receive attention. Articles focused on the education
of women and girls in a variety of colonies, e.g. Zanzibar, the Sudan, Bombay, British
Guiana and Malaya, together with the training of nurses and teachers. A further group of
articles ranged far and wide in relation to education in colonies outside Africa including
Palestine, Malaya, Hong Kong, the Falkland Islands, China, St Helena, The Netherlands
East Indies, Cyprus, India, Ceylon, Singapore, Tonga and British Honduras.
Many articles are best designated as belonging to a miscellaneous group noted for their
diverse range of subject content. Limitations of space preclude anything more than a brief
illustration of this but they included articles on the New Education Fellowship, the
educational work of Sir Frederick Guggisberg,22 the projected London Colonial Research
Institute, Achimota College, technical education in Palestine, the adaptation of
intelligence tests to Africa, the work of the Little Sisters of St Francis in Uganda, the state
and religious education in Christian and non-Christian lands, American contributions to
intelligence tests for tropical peoples, the educational aspects of Indian constitutional
reforms, a report on the international education conference held at Honolulu in 1936, a
travelling cinema in Malaya, the Pagoda schools of Cambodia, the Spens Report on the
future of secondary education in England and Wales, the probation service in Palestine, a
German view of colonial education, veterinary education in Uganda, education in St
Helena, the educational system of the Netherlands East Indies, the problem of the semi-
educated African, the progress of athletics in Nigeria, propaganda science and education,
local education authorities in the colonial empire, Platos Republic, and education in the
Hadhramaut (South Arabia).
The practical nature of many articles took the form of advice on topics such as the
teaching of English and vernacular languages, the content of school curricula, health
factors in schools, forms and content of agricultural education, the adaptation of
intelligence tests in schools in tropical Africa, the teaching of history, biology,
mathematics, drama, art and music in African schools, English reading materials, the
general science course in Malayan schools, trade training, problems of teacher training in
the colonies, domestic science teaching, the spread of literacy, and the making and storage
of science equipment. In most instances the writers of articles were serving or retired

19 Higher Education in East Africa [De La Warr Report], Colonial No. 142 (London: HMSO, 1937).
20 Report of the Commission on Higher Education in West Africa [Elliot Report], Cmd. 6655 (London: HMSO,
1945).
21 Report of the Commission on Higher Education in the Colonies [Asquith Report], Cmd. 6647 (London:
HMSO, 1945).
22 Sir Gordon Guggisberg, Governor of the Gold Coast, was responsible for the creation of Achimota
College.
 568 C. Whitehead

officers in the colonial education service or practising teachers and principals in schools
and colleges.
Several articles like Huxleys Biological approach to education in East Africa or
Professor Diedrich Westermanns The standardization of African languages23 were
especially noteworthy for the quality of their intellectual content but Mayhews article A
German Survey of Colonial Education (January 1940) remains perhaps the most
memorable and a chilling reminder of a world that might have been.24 Mayhew was fluent
in Germanhe had studied the science of pedagogy in Germany at the turn of the
centuryand a keen student of the colonial education policies of the nations of Europe.
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His article was prompted by the publication in 1939 of a book Die Kolonial-Padagogik
der Groen Machte [The Colonial Teaching Policies of the Great Powers] by H.T. Becker,
Honorary Professor of Education in the Hansa University. Becker had been a contributor
in the 1930s to the Education Year Books published by Columbia University and Mayhew
readily acknowledged his wide knowledge and shrewd understanding of cultural
problems in various parts of the world.25
Beckers aim was to prepare the way for a German colonial education policy when
Germanys colonies [were] restored to her. Much of his book was taken up with a review
of the education policies of England, South Africa and France. Mayhew praised his
coverage and understanding of British policy, including our opportunism, suspicion of
formulae, and determination to postpone the settlement of fundamental questions until
action of some kind is dictated by circumstances. In summary, however, Becker
concluded that British policy lacked stability or, as Mayhew put it, Britain had no
grundliche Philosophie on which a policy could be based. Ultimately, whatever ideas
Becker put forward for a German colonial education policy had to be in accord with Nazi
ideology on race and blood. This meant that the education of coloured peoples must differ
fundamentally from the education of white peoples:

. . . because the latter is and must be national, directed by and in the interests of a national state. The
former must be racial because the coloured races do not and cannot develop as nations, and depend for
cultural and economic advancement on the retention of their tribal life and racial purity. It is in the
interests not only of the white nations but also of the coloured races that these races should be kept
completely aloof from the white nations. Racial purity must be ensured not only by heavy legal penalties
on mixed marriage or intercourse, but also by a completely distinct cultural development. For their own
economic development, and in order that they may produce more raw materials for the white nations,
they must acquire western skill and technique. On no account must they be infected with the philosophy
or literature, the political ideas or ethical aspirations, of the west. Culturally they must plough a lonely
furrow, marked out for them by the anthropologists and sociologists in accordance with the theory of
racial purity. . . . When the Nazi has finished with him the African will be race-conscious and race-proud,
so proud in fact of his difference from the white man that he will more gladly be subject to him than co-
operate on equal terms with him.26

Becker refuted any suggestion that Nazi Germany would not give coloured races a square
deal: What could be fairer than treatment which [would] ensure purity of race? It was,
wrote Becker, Nativization, not civilization, that Africa needed.
Mayhew suggested that it all read dreadfully like a perversion of Rudyard Kiplings
The White Mans BurdenLesser Breeds without the Law, and requiring a Law of
their very own, uncontaminated by the white mans ideas. In Beckers scenario
intellectualism was to be avoided at all costs because it bred liberalism:

23 OE, VI/1 (October 1934), 18.

24 OE, XI/2 (January 1940), 7382.
25 Ibid., 73.
26 A German survey of colonial education, OE, XI/2 (January 1940), 81.
 Oversea Education and British colonial education 569

The training must be emotional; a glowing desire for racial purity free from rational restraint must
emerge. Physical training and hygiene, agricultural and craft instruction, within this emotional
atmosphere, will ensure a race of tribally self-conscious, tribally vigorous and tribally qualified to
produce materials for the white world as well as necessary food for their own world. What more [could]
they desire?27

The subjugation, for their own good, of colonial peoples to the needs of the master Aryan
race, as outlined by Becker, provides a chilling reminder of the dark shadow that would
have been cast over the world if Nazi ideology had prevailed. In similar vein, another
German, Dr Gunther Hecht, writing about colonial peoples and Nazi racial philosophy,
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claimed that there was no doubt whatsoever that certain European nations were born to
rule. As far as colonial educational policy was concerned, he claimed that it was not
desirable to introduce European subject matter into schools for natives. Moreover, he
argued that they should be barred from higher schools and universities on the grounds that
they had no creative contribution to make to academic life. The production of native
pseudo-scholars would also endanger European political security.28
All this was also a far cry from the principles of trusteeship enshrined in the League
of Nations charter to which countries like Britain and France were signatories. The
trusteeship concept envisaged the colonial powers guiding their colonial subjects
ultimately to self-determination even though there was no timeline to indicate when this
might occur. The colonial powers were also expected to develop the natural resources of
their League of Nations mandates for the good of both the local population and the world
at large, however that was to be interpreted. The trusteeship principle may have been the
subject of much cynical academic criticism in the 1930s29 because of the way it was
interpreted and the slowness with which the colonial powers went about their task, but it
was based, at least in theory, on respect for the rights and freedoms of all subject peoples.
There were obvious shortcomings in both the scope and nature of educational provision
within the British colonial empire but Oversea Education consistently upheld the
principles of liberalism and academic freedom. The controversial theory of adaptation,
whereby the primary school curriculum was to be related to the agrarian lifestyle of many
colonial subjects, was criticized in some quarters as a form of educational apartheid but
colonial education policy also supported colleges for some such as those at Achimota in
the Gold Coast and Makerere in Uganda, which espoused the same literary, humanist and
scientific principles as found in universities in the United Kingdom. Moreover, in practice,
the concept of adaptation generated a confusion of purpose in many colonies and proved
very difficult to implement. Many Africans also voted with their feet, demanding that
schools offer the same type of literary education as was provided for Europeans.
Mayhews contribution as editor to Oversea Education was indispensable. He wrote
no less than 14 articles on a variety of subjects, endless book reviews, and also contributed
the lions share of the large and miscellaneous notes section in each issue. He was also
successful in attracting an impressive array of book reviewers including Sir Michael
Sadler, Sarah Burstall, A.G. Church, Edwin Smith, Professor D. Westermann, A. Victor
Murray, J.W.C. Dougall, Hanns Vischer, S. Rivers-Smith, James Fairgrieve, Mary
Blacklock, George Maxwell, Sir James Currie, D.C. Somervell, S.A. Hammond, J.A.
Lauwerys, Herbert S. Scott, M.C.V. Jeffreys, Raymond Firth, Margaret Wrong, Sir George

27 Ibid., 82.
28 Condensed translation from a pamphlet by Dr Gunther Hecht, The colonial question and Nazi racial
philosophy, Colonial Review, August (1939).
29 See Penelope Hetherington, British Paternalism in Africa, 19201940 (London: Frank Cass, 1978).
 570 C. Whitehead

Anderson, The Revd H.M. Grace, Professor W.M. Macmillan, Sir Philip Hartog, E.R.J.
Hussey, and Audrey Richards. Herbert (later Sir Herbert) S. Scott deserves special
mention as a reviewer of books in Oversea Education. A former director of education in
Kenya, he joined Mayhew in the Colonial Office in the late 1930s after retirement and
became a prolific writer on colonial education. He wrote the chapter on education in Lord
Haileys African Survey,30 and also wrote regular articles, including the first serious
survey of British colonial education policy, in the Year Book of Education published by
Evans Bros on behalf of the London Institute of Education. He also edited the Colonial
Review, a quarterly digest of information on all colonial matters, including education,
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started by the Colonial Department of the London Institute of Education in 1939.

Mayhew formally retired from his post as Joint-Secretary of the Advisory Committee
on Education in the Colonies in December 1939 but agreed to continue as editor of
Oversea Education for the duration of the war. It was a difficult time for the editor of any
academic journal but especially for one so dependent on overseas contributors.
Nevertheless, Mayhew soldiered on and it is to his lasting credit that the journal survived
the war years relatively unscathed but it must have been with some sense of relief that he
finally passed the baton to his successor Frank Ward early in 1946.

Wards Editorship 194663

It was to be a sign of things to come that when Ward took over the editorship the veil of
anonymity that had traditionally covered the editor of Oversea Education was lifted.
Henceforth, Ward included editorials in each issue and, in contrast with Mayhew, his
editorial style was far more forthright. In his first editorial Ward commented that it was no
easy matter to produce a magazine under official auspices, which was in no sense an
official publication, which was supported by a somewhat thin stream of voluntary (and
unpaid) journalistic contributions, and which also had to be accurate as well as readable.
Nevertheless, as he put it, the faltering prentice hand of a new editor takes up the pen and
the blue pencil which the veteran lays down; and the newcomer addresses himself to his
task, claiming the indulgence of his readers.31 This comment was characteristic of Wards
abiding modesty. He never sought the limelight but his outstanding qualities as a scholar,
critic and diplomat were widely recognized in the higher echelons of the Colonial Office. As
Professor Lionel Elvin said of Ward at a later date when reviewing his book Educating
Young Nations, he [Ward] had been through it all, from the village schoolroom of the Gold
Coast to the Councils of Unesco by way of educational administration in Mauritius and
advising on education at the Colonial Office. He was, said Elvin, an enthusiast with a clear
head; an idealist with a zest for facts and his style was direct and vigorous. In his writing
there were no windy generalisations or bloodless abstractions but a wealth of particular
instance and concrete evidence to back his case.32 In his first issue Ward provided a portent
of what was to come when he commented on criticism that the journal had too much of an
African bias. He suggested that the remedy lay in the hands of his readersif Africa sent the
editor twice as much copy as the rest, then Africa would probably get twice as much space as
the rest. He was as good as his word. When the journal ceased publication some seventeen
years later, Ward had published 373 articles, of which 221, or 59%, were related to Africa, an
even greater proportion than under Mayhews editorship.

30 Personal communication with Professor J.W. Cell.

31 OE, XVII/3 (April 19460, 289.
32 OE, XXXI/4 (January 1960), 1823.
 Oversea Education and British colonial education 571

Wards editorial style was more akin to that of a journalist than a learned academic. He
was a reputable African historian in his own right but many of his editorials were
deliberately written in a provocative style. Some of his turns of phrase were especially
memorable. In commenting on the first meeting of Unesco in Paris in November 1946, he
clearly had the fate of the League of Nations in mind when he wrote: The cynic or the
pessimist may be tempted to remark that the piers of the new bridge are being built within
sight of the ruins of earlier structures which have been swept away by the floods.33 After
the conference he remarked that It seems as if the conscience of mankind has awakened
to the evil of ignorance as it awoke a century ago to the evil of slavery. The general sense
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of the conference was unmistakable: there must be no more paltering with illiteracy and
ignorance; they must go.34 In another context his comments on educational admin-
istrators strike a familiar chord half a century later in a world dominated by corporate
management theory:
To some extentand often to a very great extenthe [the educational administrator] is bound to deal
with papers rather than directly with people; and it is easy to forget that papers have no importance, save
as they affect people. Once this has been forgotten, there is no sure defence against the final disaster of
believing that tidy administration is an end in itself, and that the subject of administration, be it herrings
in the sea, pine-trees in the plantation, or children in the classroom, is nothing but raw material for the
administrator to exercise his art upon.35

In April 1950 he spoke out in his usual assertive and persuasive style about what we today
would recognize as political correctness:
Why are we so afraid of words? There was a time when we spoke of native languages. Then, to try to
avoid the word native, we changed to the word vernacular. Now vernacular is also taboo, and we must
speak of indigenous languages. If the world goes on moving at its present rate, this word in turn will not
last more than ten years or so before we are told that people are sensitive and dont like it. And what then?
There will still be aboriginal and autochthonous, but they are unlikely to run for long. . . . An age which
is capable of translating colony into non-self-governing territory or (even worse) into territory for whose
foreign relations His Majestys Government is responsible will really enjoy itself in trying to define what
it means by a native language. It would be better to face the fact that people do not really object to the
word itself but to its emotional associations, and that these associations do not belong to the word, but
to the man who uses it. If not, we shall continue to be frightened out of our native English by foreigners
who tell us that it means what we know it does not mean.36

In April 1957 Ward commented in the same forthright style on a recent Unesco general
conference held at New Delhi:
There was the usual wrangle over the budget ceiling, with the British delegation as usual standing pat on
its Treasury brief. There was the usual rush to get the programme voted by the end of the conference, with
no time for really useful professional discussion. And it is to be presumed that the final programme will
include, as usual, a number of good solid schemes which the public will never hear of, standing ankle
deep in a litter of ephemeral rubbish which will be headlined in the popular Press.37

The previous year Ward had spoken of education as being irresistible like a river:
Once schools begin their work and the idea is introduced that knowledge should be available to all, things
will never be the same again. Education changes people, and changes society; it will inevitably destroy
the stability of an aristocratic society, and the goal must then be the stability of an educated society.38

33 OE, XVIII/2 (January 1947), 437.

34 OE, XVIII/3 (April 1947), 487.
35 OE, XIX/2 (January 1948), 6278.
36 OE, XXI/3 (April 1950), 1050.
37 OE, XXIX/1 (April 1957), 1.
38 OE, XXVII/4 (January 1956), 134.
 572 C. Whitehead

In April 1952 Oversea Education adopted a new format. Ward spoke of the journal
appearing in a new dress. Taking a surreptitious look at ourselves in the mirror, we must
admit that we feel as bashful as a lady going from a crinoline to a ballet skirt. But we hope
you agree that we look quite nice in it.39 A still further change in the cover design took
effect from January 1956.
The introductory comments in his editorial of October 1961 were vintage Ward:

For some years past, the Colonial Office has been dwindling like an ice-floe caught in the Gulf Stream
drift. One colony after another gains independence. Its department in Great Smith Street is closed, and
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its files are handed over to the Commonwealth Relations Office; and its new national flag flies on the
High Commissioners car to bewilder the crowds along Whitehall.40

No one could ever doubt Wards sincerity. As he stated in an editorial in April 1962, in
spite of the great benefits that British rule brought to Asia and Africa, and in spite of the
popularity of some individuals, colonial governments on the whole had failed to win the
affection of their people. They were feared for their power, and perhaps esteemed for their
honesty, justice and efficiency, but they were certainly not loved.41 Several months later,
in his final editorial in January 1963, he concluded by saying that Britain had ruled many
peoples. It was now time to serve them with generous financial aid and professional
advice and win a new empire over mens hearts. That, he claimed, would be an
imperialism for which no one need blush.42
Wards editorials covered a wide range of topics including the want of a philosophy
of education in the colonial setting, the link between education and urban drift, various
aspects of British education policy in Africa, the work of Unesco, the relevance of school
curricula, local education committees, education and revenue, education for citizenship,
educational administration, examination reform, mass education, new colonial uni-
versities, fundamental (or community) education, teacher training, the Silver Jubilee of the
London Institute of Education, the Cambridge Education Conference of 1952, inter-racial
education, history courses in the tropics, adult education, colonial students in Britain, the
quantity/quality dilemma in education, school inspectors, the medium of instruction, self-
governing schools, the work of the British Council, wastage in schooling, American
degrees and British students, textbooks, the value of educational conferences, acquiring
teachers for overseas service, British and American education, illiteracy, the Department
of Technical Co-operation, the Africanization of university courses, Volunteer Service
Abroad, and the death of Alec Fraser, formerly Principal of Achimota College.
One of Wards most memorable editorials concerned the Conservative Partys call for
a royal commission to study the problems of colonial educationthe only occasion in its
long life when it might be argued that Oversea Education was used deliberately to
influence government policy. It is, of course, true that the publication of Oversea
Education as a semi-official mouthpiece ofand partly financed bythe Colonial Office
was itself a political act but Wards editorial broke new ground. It sought to exert a direct
influence on the shaping of government policy whereas the journal traditionally provided
critical but on the whole supportive comment on aspects of government colonial education
policy. Ward and his senior colleagues in the Colonial Office were strongly opposed to the

39 OE, XXIV/1 (April 1952), 2.

40 OE, XXXIII/3, 105.
41 OE, XXXIV/1 (April 1962), 2.
42 OE, XXXIV/4 (January 1963), 146.
 Oversea Education and British colonial education 573

Table 2. Summary of articles published in Oversea Education during Wards editorship.

Category No of articles Articles related to Africa

Community development 95 62
Specific colonies 75 32
Curriculum 29 22
English language and related issues 29 15
Girls education 22 16
Adult education 12 8
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Indigenous cultures 13 12
Examinations and selection 13 9
Teacher training 38 23
Miscellaneous 47 24
Totals 373 223 (60%)

idea of a royal commission because they thought it was impractical and would solve
nothing. Ward made his position and that of his Whitehall colleagues abundantly clear in
the October 1949 issue of Oversea Education:

. . . our main trouble is not that we do not know what to do, but that we lack the means of doing it. . . .
What could a Royal Commission do to supply the colonies with science and technical teachers? What
could it do to replace the untrained primary school teachers with trained staff? What could it do to
provide the huge quantities of reading material needed for literacy campaigns?. . . . We entirely agree
with the ends to be gained; but as a means of gaining them, this proposal [for a Royal Commission] is
ill conceived.43

During and immediately after the Second World War mass education, subsequently called
community development, became a major aspect of British colonial policy and this was
reflected in the pages of Oversea Education. No less than 25% of articles were related to
the subject, and two-thirds of those were in relation to African territories. A further 20%
of articles were on specific colonies. Of these, approximately 42% were on African
colonies. Other territories covered included Malaya, Palestine, Australia, Hong Kong,
Cyprus, Mauritius, Sarawak, British Honduras, South Africa, the Philippines, Malta,
Singapore, the Pacific Islands, the Falkland Islands, Fiji, Western Samoa, Aden, British
Antigua, St Kitts and Grenada. Teacher training, curriculum matters, English language and
other language-related issues, the education of girls, adult education, indigenous culture,
and examinations and selection issues were also subjects that featured prominently. Forty-
seven articles fell into the miscellaneous category. A summary of articles published under
Wards editorship is provided in table 2.
The range of articles published during Wards editorship makes it invidious to highlight
some and not others but at least passing reference should be made to two articles on
education in Malaya by H.R. Cheeseman, the Director of Education in Malaya, based on
lectures he gave to prisoners in the Changi prisoner-of-war camp during the Second World
War;44 several articles on French education policy in West Africa, including one in

43 OE, XXI/1, 95355.

44 Education in Malaya, OE, XVII/ 4 (July 1946), 34654 and XVIII/1 (October 1946), 391400.
 574 C. Whitehead

particular by Jean Capelle;45 an article by Alec Fraser on his educational policy;46 another
by F.R.J. Davies, the Officer for Islands Education in the New Zealand Department of
Education, on problems in Pacific Islands education;47 and finally P.C.C. Evanss essay48 on
the ministerial system of education which preceded the achievement of full independence in
many colonies. Contributors were generally senior serving or retired colonial education
officers, mission education staff, principals of schools or university staff.
Ward maintained a steady stream of book reviews, most of which were strongly
practical in their orientation, but they were shorter than formerly and mostly anonymous.
From October 1946 until January 1950, the journal also featured a comprehensive and
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very useful bibliography of recent publications on colonial education. The service was
started by K. Howard Drake, the Information Officer for the Royal Empire Society and
later maintained by H.G.A. Hughes from the London School of Oriental and African
Studies. During Wards editorship there was a noticeable decline in the pages of
miscellaneous notes, due probably to the rapid improvements in world communications,
including the advent of radio and television. Air travel was also rapidly breaking down the
traditional isolation of many colonies. Educational advisers based in London, such as Sir
Christopher Cox and Freda Gwilliam, travelled around the empire on a regular basis each
year offering advice and encouragement to educational officers serving in the field.
By the late 1950s most colonies also had educational policies in place that were being
administered by experienced and trained staff and the need for a journal like Oversea
Education was fast receding. Other academic journals were also appearing as education
established itself as a major field of study in many universities. In short, the pioneering
stage of colonial education which marked the interwar years was long gone and with it the
need for a journal to keep the centre and the periphery in touch with each other. In 1961
the Colonial Office relinquished its responsibility for education to the newly formed
Department of Technical Cooperation and within a year it was decided to terminate
publication of Oversea Education. As Ward aptly commented in the penultimate issue, the
journal dies with the era that is dying; the age that is coming to birth will require a
different kind of paper.49
No one championed the rights of Britains colonial subjects for a better deal more
vehemently and consistently than Ward in his many articles and editorials in Oversea
Education.50 He resolutely argued for the preservation of indigenous cultures and
frequently took issue with aspects of colonial education policy. His was a measured
criticism based on first-hand experience of teaching for many years at Achimota College,
wide experience as an educational administrator in Mauritius, and a firm Christian belief
in the rights of all races to be treated equally. He was also widely acknowledged to be an
astute commentator on colonial education at Unesco conferences. His book My Africa,51
written in the 1980s, is a lasting testimony to his genuine love of Africa and its people.
It is now some 40 years since Ward concluded his editorial duties with the memorable
words This station is now closing down. Overand out!52 but the end of colonial rule

45 Education in French West Africa, OE, XXI/1 (October 1949), 95672.

46 My education policy, OE, XXIX/4 (January 1958), 14551.
47 Problems in Pacific Islands education, OE, XXXI/2 (July 1959), 6976.
48 The ministerial system in education, OE, XXXIV/2 (July 1962), 5163.
49 OE, XXXIV/3 (October 1962), 140.
50 See for example his editorial in XVIII/1 (October 1946), 38991, in which he argued the case for producing
more artisans in schools rather than an endless stream of clerks.
51 W.E.F. Ward, My Africa (Accra: Ghana Universities Press, 1991).
52 OE, XXXIV/4 (January 1963), 146.
 Oversea Education and British colonial education 575

had little direct impact on the longstanding nature of many educational issues in the
developing world. Even today a selection of Wards editorials can still provide useful
insights into many contemporary educational problems. More importantly, however, the
32 volumes of Oversea Education constitute a unique historical archive about British
colonial education and deserve to be recognized as such. For over 30 years they kept the
centre and the periphery of empire in touch with each other. Today, they provide a modest
but moving memorial to the many men and women from the United Kingdom who served
in the Colonial Education Service.
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